Photo: Volocopter
VoloIQ is the name of an innovative digital platform that will act as the operating system for future UAM (urban air mobility) operations. The players behind it are Volocopter and Microsoft.
A future where autonomous air taxis and drone deliveries are part of everyday mobility is looking closer to reality than ever before. As we’ve said before, developing the best eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) technology is just one step of the process, which also includes new regulations, dedicated infrastructure, and operation systems.
This is why, two years ago, Volocopter and Lufthansa Industry Solutions first came up with the idea of a digital platform for autonomous aircraft operations based on Microsoft Azure. Now, Volocopter and Microsoft have officially started working on this aerospace cloud system in Microsoft Azure, which is an industry first.
VoloIQ is set to become the manufacturer’s standard UAM operating system for both its electric passenger aircraft and commercial drones. Flight planning and monitoring, vehicle data logging and analysis, booking, and commercial scheduling are just some of the elements that this complex platform will be able to cover, thanks to a modular structure. It will even supply airspace digital twins for future air taxis.
Volocopter plans to operate three types of electric aircraft – VoloCity, VoloDrone, and VoloConnect - connected through a ground infrastructure called the VoloPort. The future Microsoft cloud will help provide flight and service support for all of these aircraft, in conjunction with the VoloPort, in real-time.
"Working in collaboration with Volocopter, we will start to build the foundation for a commercial model for aerospace cloud,” said Uli Homann, CVP of Cloud and AI at Microsoft.
The German eVTOL developer has recently conducted the first successful manned flight of its air taxi prototype in France. The company plans to launch its air taxi services around the time of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
This is why, two years ago, Volocopter and Lufthansa Industry Solutions first came up with the idea of a digital platform for autonomous aircraft operations based on Microsoft Azure. Now, Volocopter and Microsoft have officially started working on this aerospace cloud system in Microsoft Azure, which is an industry first.
VoloIQ is set to become the manufacturer’s standard UAM operating system for both its electric passenger aircraft and commercial drones. Flight planning and monitoring, vehicle data logging and analysis, booking, and commercial scheduling are just some of the elements that this complex platform will be able to cover, thanks to a modular structure. It will even supply airspace digital twins for future air taxis.
Volocopter plans to operate three types of electric aircraft – VoloCity, VoloDrone, and VoloConnect - connected through a ground infrastructure called the VoloPort. The future Microsoft cloud will help provide flight and service support for all of these aircraft, in conjunction with the VoloPort, in real-time.
"Working in collaboration with Volocopter, we will start to build the foundation for a commercial model for aerospace cloud,” said Uli Homann, CVP of Cloud and AI at Microsoft.
The German eVTOL developer has recently conducted the first successful manned flight of its air taxi prototype in France. The company plans to launch its air taxi services around the time of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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